Warbird Information Exchange

The area behind the pilot that formed the razorback area that would be under the canopy, what color was that? Was it always OD, or was it interior green? What color would it be if the aircraft was polished metal. Just a question for a project I am working on. Thank you in advance.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

For the most part it was OD if the P-47 was OD.
So natural metal if it was a natural metal P-47.
Most that were painted in the field (natural metal P-47) did not have this painted.
Look through this sight it will help.
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/
It has photo's of many photo's.56 FG and 356 FG.
Hope this helps.
Rick

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"Everyone Brings Joy to this room
Some by entering
Some by Leaving"

Wow! THanks. That is a great site. Yeah it looks as if the area was left unpainted.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Chris, go ask that question on HyperScale...I double dog dare you!!!

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Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

Zach, would you mind posting this there and let me know what they say. I'm not a member there.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Ah, you've found one of Hyperscale's (and ARC, and every other model fourm) proverbial cans of worms. General consensus is that the area was the same color as the exterior, although it appears to be Neutral Gray on a few may bare metal birds. The problem is, the area is always seen through plexiglass, and in a B&W photo often looks lighter than the rest of the outside, leading some to think it was painted the interior color (which was Dull Dark Green on P-47Ds. I think Curtiss-built P-47Gs may have had Interior Green cockpits..I'd have to dig out my references.) The same controversy surrounds P-40s. All evidence is that the area under the rear windows (at least up to the N) was painted the exterior color, yet there are still those who argue it was the cockpit color (a Curtiss version of Tinted Zinc Chromate, later known as Interior Green.)

See what I mean about a can of worms?

Now I triple-dog-dare ya to ask the model crowd what color the P-51D "Lou IV" was....

SN

Ha Ha That is funny. I am doing a custom razorback and am trying to figure out what to paint that area. Hmmm.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Yeah right. Why not just start another thread here about the "CAF" F-82!

There have been published photos of Razorbacks on the assembly line that clearly show the exterior color continued under that section behind the cockpit. Just wish I could find them so I could post them here!

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Had God intended for man to fly behind inline engines, Pratt & Whitney would have made them.

CB

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Desrt_Wings.html

Yeah, Clifford--I've been trying to find photos that confirm the color also!

On the NMF airplanes it seems to be light grey, but again, it's hard to say with that pesky canopy installed.

Chris, I did a little websearch on 42-22687, the airplane that was recovered from the jungle a number of years ago. If you were able to contact someone who has been involved with that airframe they might be able to confirm the color.

S

Thank you very much. I am going to try that. Yeah that forum got nasty in someparts. I just searched P-47 Razorback on their forum, and had fun reading.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

It would appear the folks at Curtiss OD'ed the area first and then installed the glass (Or am I misunderstanding the question?).

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

You pegged it. Curtiss seems to have painted just that area first where as Republic painted the whole fuselage and then installed the canopy.

This photo of Zemke's P-47B suffers from being scanned from a postcard but it sure looks OD under the aft part of the canopy. There is a better quality shot in Warren Bodie's tome to the P-47 that is even clearer.



Same shot in B/W.



An another shot. When photographed where the lighjt is very direct it sure lookd OD to me.



Logic would indicate that the area behind the cockpit would be OD on camoed airplanes so as to not detract from camouflage. On a NMF there would be no need to paint it, though a few planes during that transition might have had OD, or chromate there.

WW II was a war of production as well as anything else. All efforts were made to mass produce weapons and vehicles were made. Nothing would have been gained by painting areas differently unless some sort of protection to the surface was needed. A good example was the G503 1/4 ton truck, otherwise known as the jeep. All jeeps were produced under Army Quatermaster Corps contracts, whether Willys MB or Ford GPW jeeps. They came out of the factory OD and it did not matter what service the ended up with. They were not painted gray for the Navy and a different green for the USMCs. Vehicles were simply send delivered from the QMC contract in a batch to other services as they came off the line. If that receiving service wished to waste time repainting any vehicles after delivery that was their choice.

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Had God intended for man to fly behind inline engines, Pratt & Whitney would have made them.

CB

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Desrt_Wings.html

One of the references I stumbled upon mentioned NMF P-47s having flat light grey panels back there so as to cut down on reflections in the aft canopy panels. That made sense to me from a practical standpoint, but I still am not sure if they painted the area or not. It's too hard to tell from the photos I have been able to find.

Scott

Yeah, I have seen that printed some places too. I need to dig through some reference and look at a whole bunch of photos and see what it looks like. I have become suspicious of much of what I read as I have fallen for too many things in the past that further reference disproves.

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Had God intended for man to fly behind inline engines, Pratt & Whitney would have made them.

CB

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Desrt_Wings.html